Healthy Banana Pumpkin Muffins

I thought I would do something different and show all my food, meals and treats I eat for the day. Not only will you get an idea of what calories are, but it will also keep me accountable for my eating habits for the day. So whatever goes in my mouth, I have to document it to you!!

7:00am – Breakfast

For breakfast I made a very healthy Banana Pumpkin Muffin, my own creation, which I must admit came out great!! I also had a side of two scrambled eggs, using a 1/2 cup of egg substitute and two cups of coffee with non-fat milk and sugar free syrup. Nutrition for Breakfast: Calories: 224, Fat: 2, Potassium: 531, Carbs: 32, Fiber: 4, Protein: 20. I tend to eat light at breakfast, encase I snack later in the day. I’m a huge snacker.

8:00am – Workout

About an hour after breakfast, I did 40 minutes of 10lbs Slim Down Extreme Total Body workout, it was free On Demand. It was a 40 minute work out using 10lbs. hand weights, and I burned approx. 308 calories. My heart rate monitor isn’t working, so I used an online calculation to figure it out. All I know is my arms hurt, and I can barley lift them. Thats a good thing. Building muscle burns more fat at resting state, not to mention toning your arms seems to work quicker for me, so I’m hoping to see them toned by December 9th! Thats my work Christmas party. My weight goal is to really tone up and drop those 2lbs I gained, plus the 1/2″ I gained in my lower half. Can’t wait to see my progress report in a couple of weeks. Oh and I drank 2 Cups of water.

10:15am -Morning Snack Time (I was starving)

After my workout started some laundry (comforter and sheets) and I made Wild Berry Compote, so I could top it off on my yogurt. I used 1/2 Cup of Non-fat plain Yogurt, 2 Tbsp. of Berry Compote, 1 tsp of Cinnamon Raisin Peanut Butter and a tiny sprinkle of granola. For my drink I had a cup of coffee. I’m addicted to coffee encase you didn’t already know. Nutrition for snack: Calories: 153, fat: 3, Potassium: 214, Carbs: 18, Fiber: 2, Protein: 15

12:30pm – Lunch Time

For lunch I had one cup of leftover butternut squash and two cups of mixed lettuce with 2 tsp. of Fat Free Balsamic Dressing. My lunch seems light, but I’ll have a snack later. I also had 1 bottle of water. Nutrition for lunch: 129, Fat: 2, Potassium: 728, Carbs: 30, Fiber: 8, Protein: 3

This afternoon, I made Kaiser Rolls for my Husbands lunches, I must keep my hands off them. If your interested, it’s an easy recipe I got from Taste of Home. Before I start dinner, roasted chicken, I am ready for my afternoon snack. I figured I better have my snack now, before I start eating other goodies. I tend to snack when I cook.

Here are the rolls I made. I let them rise a pinch to much, they smell so good, almost like hot soft pretzels.

2:30pm Afternoon Snack

My afternoon snack, half a serving of Trader Joe’s Salt & Pepper Chips and 1 ounce of Laughing Cow Cheese and a 1/4 cup of granola (I’m addicted to the stuff). Nutrition: Calories: 161, Fat: 5, Carbs: 24, Fiber: 2, Protein: 5 Not a great nutritional snack, but I have a big dinner tonight, so I’m holding off. I also had 1 bottle of water.

For dinner I am making Herb Roasted Chicken, while I have some time to prepare, I decided to do 20 minutes of yoga. I wanted to get some stretching in, since my back and arms were sore from this mornings workout. I burned approx. 51 calories.

Dinner: 5:30pm

Dinner, I had the Roasted Chicken, Cranberry Walnut Roll, Steamed Green Beans and a side salad with Fat Free Balsamic. The red stuff on my plate is Trader Joe’s Cranberry Apple Butter. That was the first time I had it and oh, my is it good. Only 20 calories a Tablespoon. I need to buy more encase it’s seasonal.Check it out on my Trader Joe’s page. Nutrition for dinner: Calories: 443, Fat: 10, Cholesterol: 86, Sodium: 786, Potassium: 309, Carbs: 47, Fiber: 4, Protein: 39

6:00pm Dessert

The picture is yellow tones again. Boy, it’s hard taking pictures at night. Anyway, I always have dessert after dinner. So tonight I took an apple, cut it up, add a pinch of cinnamon, a pinch of Turbinado Sugar, a pinch of apple granola, covered it with plastic wrap and microwaved it for 1 minute. Took it out added a dollop of fat free whip cream and a pinch of peanut butter. I love this one minute dessert. This is healthy too!! I also had 1/2 cup of non-fat milk with it. Calories including milk: 161, Fat: 2, Sodium: 28, Potassium: 141, Carbs: 31, Fiber: 3, Protein: 5

Not bad stats, I could use a pinch more fiber, but the rest is pretty good! Exercise I burned approx: 365

I don’t think I’ll be tracking my meals anymore, this was a lot of work, taking pictures of everything I eat and typing all the nutritional value, but at least I got to show you how I eat, and I know that I can be full at around 1300 or so calories a day. I do recommend 1500, and tomorrow I will eat a bigger breakfast so I meet that goal. Plus I got hungry a couple hours after breakfast. I’m thinking pancakes!! But we shall see how tomorrow goes!

Here is a pic of my Pumpkin Banana Muffins I had this morning. I am really impressed with my creation. I thought for sure they would of been chewy but they weren’t, they were a perfect muffin and you wouldn’t even know they are healthy. If you like Cinnamon you’ll love this recipe. If your not a cinnamon fan, then I recommend cutting back a little.

I didn’t use any oil or butter and I added 1/4cup of really fine roasted almonds. There isn’t a crunch from the almonds, but you can taste them, very nice texture. This picture is my muffin fresh out of the oven with just a spritz of melted butter.

I hope you give these a try. I made a batch of 12, ate one for breakfast and I am going to freeze a few so I can just take one out the night before and have it for breakfast next week or the week after. It’s a healthy muffin and it was very filling. I was actually full after breakfast, which is a miracle for me.

I just recently found your blog, I love it!!! I struggle with figuring out calories in meals and tracking. Do you have any words of inspiration to help me out? You are really good at it. To be honest it overwhelmes me!

I have been counting my calories for well over a year and I recently just quit, do to my obsession with it, but I do track from time to time to make sure I don’t go overboard. The best thing to do when counting calories or even figuring out how many calories in something your eating is weighing it or using measuring cups. Sometimes a small portion of something doesn’t seem like much then when you measure it you really see the amount your getting.

I also found portion control is the best way to go especially when you start figuring out how much you should eat. For me, I make sure I have only one carb, like bread, potatoes, rice or pasta, which takes a quarter of my dinner plate, the other corner would be my protein, like chicken, meat or eggs, and the other half of the plate would be my veggies. When I just did that without measuring I lost weight. I also don’t restrict myself on veggies, I snack on them all day. I cut them up, throw them in a baggies and when the urge to snack hits I pull out some veggies. I’ll also make a guilt free dip to go with them, tomorrow I’ll be posting one. If you do the portion control thing, you’ll be set. Figuring out calories is a lot of work and takes dedication and can be frustrating at times, but honestly I recommend doing it for one week if you have the patience. It’s a learning experience and a real eye opener. I was shocked to see how many calories were in foods I was eating. I thought I was eating healthy and I wasn’t.

Also read labels on packages!! I compare packages all the time, I read which one has more calories, more fat and more carbs. if it’s high in carbs I check to see if there is protein and fiber in it. If fat and sugar are high I put it back! I try not to go higher then 10 grams of sugar and fat depending on what it is, I stay low in that to.

I hope some of this helps. You should read my Weight Loss Story page, that has my story and tips that may help. The best advice I could give is exercise at least 30 minutes a day, even if it is walking,drink lots of water and stop eating if your not hungry anymore. Listen to your stomach.

For me, I’m still learning and I try to practice these philosophies everyday, but if I fail, I just start over, and believe me I fail all the time. It’s a life long journey, not a weight loss program and you can’t be perfect everyday, so don’t beat yourself up, just trying your best is all you can do.

Hi, Welcome to my blog. My name is Jennifer and I am a health food blogger. I try to take everyday food and make it healthier without sacrificing the flavor. Find out more about me in the About Section of my blog.

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